


Patience is a Virtue

by Rebelhalen



Category: Revolution (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-11-21 23:44:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11368095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rebelhalen/pseuds/Rebelhalen
Summary: “Fine,” she says, “if you won’t do it, I’ll see if Connor’s up for it.” And she starts to march past him.“No the hell you won’t,” Monroe growls, grabbing her by the forearm tightly. Charlie looks down at his hand wrapped around her and then looks up into his eyes that have gone from piercing to fiery. Charlie raises a brow.“Let me go,” she says.Monroe stares at her, thinking, but doesn’t let her go. “Not if you’re going to fuck my son,” his voice low.Charlie rolls her eyes and huffs, “Why does it matter if I fuck him if you don’t want to do it yourself?”Monroe’s hand tightens around her arm painfully but Charlie doesn’t let herself wince as Monroe says quickly, frustratingly, “Because I already have to compete with a dead man, I don’t want to have to with my son.”





	1. Chapter 1

“Come on Bass just one time, just for tonight,” Charlie pleads, moving towards him.   
Bass seems to be frozen in place, his eyes wide with shock and Charlie uses the time to take off Bass’s jacket. She’s successfully gotten her hands underneath his shirt and is exploring his abs and chest when Bass shakes his head and backs away from Charlie making her hands drop.   
“I can’t do that Charlie,” he says, his voice hoarse.   
“Why not?” Charlie whines, “I know you want me, don’t say that you don’t.”  
Bass swallows, “I-I do want you Charlotte,” he stutters and Charlie is pretty positive that it is the first time she’s ever heard Sebastian Monroe stutter.   
“Than what’s the problem?” she asks, moving closer to him, her voice dropping in an attempt to be sultry, “You want me,” Charlie starts and Bass’s eyelids droop a little, the color of his eyes changing from the usual piercing cerulean blue to a darker shade. His eyes start to wander over her body, stopping at her cleavage in her tight tank top and her firm belly that’s showing to the v of her legs. His eyes are roaming her legs when she says, “And my body wants you.” His eyes snap up to hers, piercing again, and yet something resembling disappointment creeps into them, Charlie however doesn’t notice it.  
“We’re both adults,” Charlie continues, “Let’s just fuck.”   
Bass eyes leave hers immediately at that and he shakes his head, “Let’s just fuck,” he echoes her, the phrase in between a growl and a scoff coming from his mouth. Bass chuckles, but there’s no humor in it and Charlie’s eyes furrow.   
“What?” Charlie says, “What’s the problem?”  
Bass cuts her a sideways glace before he bends down and picks up his jacket. He faces her again, his mouth opening and closing a couple of times. He stares at her for a moment, his eyes conflicted before he sighs and shakes his head. He starts to walk past her. Charlie feels panic starting to course through her and it shows in her voice when she grabs his arm, demanding, “Where are you going?”  
Bass is surprised at the panic he hears in her voice and turns around to face her. He studies her for a minute, his eyes furrowing. “Why do you want to do this Charlie?” he asks.   
Charlie takes a quick breath and releases it, “I just- I can’t remember, I’m sick of thinking about it, I can’t sleep, I just- I need to forget it just for one fucking night, I need not to see his eyes go blank and him falling to his knees when I ki-killed him,” she can’t stop the emotion from building in her chest, and it makes her voice shake and crack, and her eyes start to water. “Please Bass, just help me forget.”   
Bass’s face twists, his gut churning, his chest felt like someone was squeezing his heart, he hated to see her like this. He wraps his arm around her shoulders, “Charlie, I know that you’re in a lot of pain right now,” and Charlie scoffs. Bass ignores it, “And you know that I will do anything in my power to help you, but… I can’t do this Charlie.”   
Charlie pulls away from him, anger forming, mixing with the pain that she already felt.   
“You can’t or you won’t?”  
Bass’s jaw works as he grinds his teeth before answering, “I won’t.”  
“Why?”  
He shakes his head, starting to turn away from her.   
“Goddammit Monroe, you can at least tell me why!”  
Monroe pauses, his hands clenching and unclenching in thought. But Charlie is not a patient person, and her anger is starting to replace the grief she’s feeling now. And instead of dialing it back and controlling it until later use like she usually does, she welcomes it.   
“Fine,” she says, “if you won’t do it, I’ll see if Connor’s up for it.” And she starts to march past him.   
“No the hell you won’t,” Monroe growls, grabbing her by the forearm tightly. Charlie looks down at his hand wrapped around her and then looks up into his eyes that have gone from piercing to fiery. Charlie raises a brow.  
“Let me go,” she says.   
Monroe stares at her, thinking, but doesn’t let her go. “Not if you’re going to fuck my son,” his voice low.   
Charlie rolls her eyes and huffs, “Why does it matter if I fuck him if you don’t want to do it yourself?”  
Monroe’s hand tightens around her arm painfully but Charlie doesn’t let herself wince as Monroe says quickly, frustratingly, “Because I already have to compete with a dead man, I don’t want to have to with my son.”  
Monroe releases her and fidgety runs his hand through his hair before scratching his beard. Charlie’s eyes widen.   
“I don’t understand you Monroe,” she finally says after a long moment of tense silence. Monroe looks at her and they stare at each other for a long time. Charlie, frustrated that she can’t read him, grabs her knife belt which she had dropped and buckles it around her waist.   
This time its Monroe’s turn to ask “Where are you going?”  
“In to town,” she says.   
“Charlie you don’t need to go by yourself, we don’t know this town yet.”  
Without stopping or turning around she responds, “I can handle myself.”   
“Like you handled yourself in the last bar you went into alone?”  
Charlie swivels around and glares at Monroe.   
“I’ll come with you,” he says, pulling on his jacket.   
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Charlie says.  
“And why is that?”  
“Because I don’t think you want to watch me pick out the guy I’m gonna fuck tonight.”   
Monroe visibly flinches at that but says, “I’m still going.”  
Charlie rolls her eyes, “Well what the hell are you going to do while I’m fucking him? Stand outside and listen until I come out?” she says exasperated. Monroe’s face twists as if he smelt something foul.   
“Noo,” he says, his voice low, “I’ll stay at the bar, and you can meet me afterwards.”  
Charlie shakes her head and laughs, “So what you’re gonna wait up for me to do the walk of shame. What are you trying to do, be my father?” she spits out disgustingly, “Is that why you won’t f-” but she doesn’t finish her sentence as Monroe’s eyes flash and he moves towards her fast. Charlie backs up until she’s up against a tree, Monroe inches away from her.   
“Do you usually ask your father figures to fuck you?” Monroe says. Charlie sneers and shoves him hard, moving away from the tree.   
“Well don’t worry Monroe, father figure or not, I won’t make the mistake of asking you again,” she says. She turns and starts walking towards town before she can see Monroe grimace at her words. He grinds his teeth, regretting saying that and follows her. Charlie tries unsuccessfully to pretend that he’s not there. The air between them sparks with tension and anger.   
When they get to the bar they both start drinking immediately. Charlie because she’ll do anything right now to numb the pain and the void she feels, and Monroe because he knows he’s going to have to get drunk to not kill all the bastards trying to get inside Charlie’s pants. He fills a twinge of regret at having declined her when not even a minute after they sit down she’s got a guy already hitting on her. Charlie sends him away quickly though, not feeling any attraction for him and not in the mood to waste her time chatting with guys she’s not going to fuck tonight.   
By the time Monroe’s on his fourth whiskey and Charlie on her third, she’s turned down three other guys. “Being picky huh?” Monroe asks, and he can’t help but smirk at her.  
Charlie raises an eyebrow at him, “What, are you complaining?”  
Monroe shakes his head, “No I’m definitely not complaining, I’m just wondering what you’re looking for. What’s your type Charlotte?” he asks, his eyes intense as he stares at her. “Other than Monroes of course,” he adds.  
Charlie rolls her eyes before looking away from his gaze with effort. “I don’t have a type Monroe,” she says quietly, her mood lowering as Jason fills her mind.   
Bass clenches his jaw as he notices her change of mood. He’s about to say something to try to make her feel better when another guy walks up. This one, he notices with dread, looks a lot like Jason.   
When Charlie doesn’t immediately send him away, but looks at him with longing Monroe’s chest constricts. He doesn’t even think she hears his name as she’s looking at him like he’s a mirage in a desert. When the guy starts touching her, running his hand along her back, moving a hair out of her eye Monroe’s fists clench as Charlie practically purrs with satisfaction. He can’t help but start fidgeting when Charlie agrees to go back to his place and he grabs her hand before she can get up.  
Charlie looks over at Monroe annoyed, and she tells the guy that she’ll meet him outside. Charlie’s eyes follow the guy out and Monroe waits until she looks over at him to speak.   
“Not him Charlie,” he says trying to sound stern but sounding more like a plea.   
“Why not?” Charlie practically whines.  
He levels her with a look, “You know why.”  
Charlie’s jaw locks and Monroe can tell that she’s about to argue.   
“He’s not healthy for you Charlie, you need to get over Jason, not try to relive the past,” he says.  
“Not healthy,” Charlie murmurs, “What and fucking a random guy that doesn’t look like Jason is,” she says drily, not really asking.   
There’s a pause. “Then why are you doing this?” Monroe asks, a hint of desperation in his voice and his hand tightens around hers.   
Charlie stares at him, “Tell me Monroe, when Shelley died were you a saint?”   
Monroe’s lips purse. “Oh wait, I almost forgot, no that’s when you decided that it would be a good idea to start the Republic,” she says sarcastically, “So excuse me if I’d rather fuck some random guy rather than go on a killing spree.”  
Monroe releases Charlie’s hand and reigns in the anger he feels from Charlie’s comment about Shelley and the Republic, knowing deep down that she was right.   
“But he’s not some random guy, is he?” he says.  
Charlie winces but says, “He could be.”  
Monroe doesn’t know who she’s trying to convince, him or herself.   
“Don’t kid yourself Charlie,” he says, “Yeah you probably would fuck him and not get attached but that will only make it harder to get over Jason,” he almost whispers Jason’s name, not even wanting to say it, “You’d be moving backwards not forward.”  
“Maybe I want to go back,” Charlie mumbles and Monroe starts to feel anger build up inside him.   
He lets out a breath that he doesn’t release fully when Charlie continues, “It should’ve been me.”  
“What?” he asks, his voice ice. He knows what she meant though, his body tensing with rage, but he wants to see if she’ll actually say it.   
But Charlie just shakes her head, not answering him. Monroe feels a little relieved that she didn’t say it but knows that if she doesn’t get better he’s going to have to address it.   
“So what do I do?” she says after a moment, “He’s waiting on me outside.”  
“Go tell him that you changed your mind. Tell him you have to go back to camp because your boyfriend’s waiting on you. Tell him you have syphilis. Tell him whatever you want but send him away,” he says. He wants to do it himself but knows that Charlie needs to do it on her own.  
Charlie sighs but nods and gets up.   
“Don’t make me come looking for you,” Monroe warns.  
“Yeah yeah I got it Monroe,” Charlie says angrily before leaving.   
Monroe watches her leave and orders two more whiskeys. He shoots one back and starts counting in his head. If she’s not back in five minutes he’s going to beat the shit out of the guy, he thinks. He downs the second drink and his leg starts to bounce, his fingers twitching. Oh God let her come back he thinks anxiously as the image of a naked Charlie wrapped around the guy accosts him. He brings his hands to his mouth to keep from drumming on the bar as he counts the last minute down. He gets up at the last second and starts to walk out but Charlie comes barreling into him just as he reaches the door.   
He grabs her arms steadying her, his eyes furrowing at the tears he sees on her face. He lets her go, his fists clenching. “Where is he?” he says, moving past her out of the bar. He swivels around looking for him but doesn’t see him.   
Charlie steps in front of him, “He didn’t do anything Monroe,” she says sounding miserable, “He left.”  
Monroe looks at her and her tear stricken face. He feels on edge from seeing her cry and has an almost uncontrollable urge to beat the shit out of somebody. Charlie sees this and shakes her head.   
“Let’s just go,” she says, pulling on his arm. He lets her lead him back to camp. His chest constricts painfully as he listens to her snivel. He finally pulls her into his arms before they reach the camp. He wraps his arms around her and Charlie buries her face in his neck, her hands balled up underneath her chin. Monroe rests his cheek on the top of her head and holds her for a long moment.   
When Charlie finally pulls away she groans, wiping furiously at her face. “I hate being like this,” she says, “I feel so weak.”   
“You’re not weak Charlie,” Monroe says, tipping her chin up to look at him, “You’re the strongest person I know.”  
Charlie scoffs, “You don’t have to lie to try and make me feel better Bass,” she says looking down as she kicks at some rocks.  
Monroe’s gut jumps at hearing her say his name though he didn’t think she even realized she said it.   
He cups a hand around her cheek and pulls her face up, “I’m not lying Charlie,” he says softly, and then stronger, “I’ve never lied to you, and I’m not going to start now.”  
Charlie stares at him, as if she’s searching for something in his eyes. Monroe doesn’t know if she found it or not though when she pulls her face away without saying anything.  
“I’m tired, I’m going to go sleep,” she says, not looking at him.   
“Okay,” Monroe says, feeling a twinge of disappointment from her response, “I’ll keep first watch and I’ll wake Connor up in a few hours so you can have the last one.”  
She nods before walking away, heading to her bed roll. Monroe watches as she takes off her boots and lays down before finding a spot with a good view of their perimeter. He sits down, leaning against a tree and while he keeps his senses on alert, he imagines what it would’ve been like if he had taken Charlie up on her offer.


	2. Chapter 2

When Monroe wakes up the next morning, the first thing he notices after the sunlight is that Charlie is gone. “Where’s Charlie?” he asks his son, as he puts his boots on.   
“She said she was going to scout the area and hunt down some breakfast,” he says.  
“How long has she been gone?” Monroe asks.  
“An hour? Maybe two?” Connor answers. Monroe puts a lid on the anxiousness he always feels when Charlie is not around him, knowing that if he went to find her she would not be happy with him interrupting her.   
An hour later though and Monroe can no longer hide his nervousness. He’s pacing in front of the woods where Connor said Charlie entered.   
“Don’t worry,” Connor says, “She’s fine, will probably be back soon, this is Charlie we’re talking about.”  
But that does not help, in fact somehow his son’s comment makes it worse. He grabs his sword belt and says, “I’m going to go find her.”  
Connor groans, “You know Charlie isn’t going to like that,” he says.  
“I’m not going to like what?”  
Monroe swivels around at Charlie’s voice and sees that she’s come back from a completely different way than she left.   
Connor laughs, “See told you she’d be back soon.”  
Monroe eyes Charlie, checking for any wounds before noticing what she’s holding in her hands.   
“Two rabbits?” he says aghast, “You’ve been gone for three hours and all you could get is two rabbits?”   
Charlie rolls her eyes, “So what? I wanted some time alone, shoot me,” she starts to smile, “Besides while I was scouting, I found something interesting.”  
Monroe raises an eyebrow. “Oh and what might that be?”  
Charlie uses her free hand to pull out a piece of paper from her back pocket. Monroe’s eyes furrow as she hands it to him. It’s a map.  
“What is it?” he asks.  
“It’s a map,” Charlie says drily and Monroe gives her look.  
“I see that it’s a map Charlotte, what’s it of?”  
Charlie bites her lip to try and contain the smirk on her face before saying, “Well I got it off a Patriot soldier who had a number in his eye.”  
Monroe’s eyes snap to hers.  
“Excuse me? How did you get it again?”  
“Well about a mile into the woods I saw a wagon carrying about half a dozen patriot soldiers.”  
“Half a dozen?” Monroe interrupts drily, a glint starting to burn in his eyes.  
Charlie ignores him, dropping the rabbits as she began the story. “So I was curious and I followed them for about another mile until they stopped for a bathroom break. And I noticed that the ones driving took out a piece of paper and I heard them say something about re-education camps as they were looking over the paper. So when the guy with the map jumped off to go take a piss in the woods, I knocked him out, checked to see if my assumptions about him having a number were correct (which they were), stole the paper and hightailed it out of there,” she finishes, unable to hold back a smile, immensely pleased with herself.   
Monroe’s gut flutters at seeing Charlie smile like that and quickly grinds his teeth to focus on the big picture. “You got lucky Charlie, if someone had caught you they could’ve killed you or worse.”  
Charlie sighs, “Yes I know that Monroe, I’m not stupid, and I’m fine. But now we have what looks to be a map of all the reeducation camps in Texas, and this one,” Charlie points to a building that has a C on it, “I’d bet a diamond is the capital of the camps, at least for the ones in Texas. So I think that it was definitely worth the risk.”   
Monroe looks over the map again, noting that the building that Charlie referred to was near the biggest town in Texas and could very well be the capital like Charlie was saying. He looks at her from the tops of his eyes. She’s looking at him expectantly. Monroe sighs and looks at her fully, “Okay Charlie, you’re right, you did good,” and she smiles at Monroe. Monroe ignores the tug in his chest at seeing her smile at him and adds, “But next time you want to risk your life in a situation where you are exceedingly outmanned-”  
“I wouldn’t say exceedingly outmanned,” Charlie scoffs and then mutters, “There were only six.”  
Connor snorts at that. Monroe’s lips twitch and the dangerous glint in his eye is replaced with an amused twinkle, “at least give me a head’s up,” he finishes.   
Charlie rolls her eyes.  
“Char-lie,” Bass warns.  
“Okay okay, geez you sound just like Miles when you say shit like that Monroe,” she says annoyed and Monroe frowns, not liking being compared to Miles by her. Monroe wants to tell her that he only wants her not to get hurt but knows that that could start a fight and he didn’t want to fight with Charlie right now. So he bit his tongue.   
“So what are we going to do?” Connor asks. Charlie looks at Connor.  
“I think we should head to the capital,” she says, looking at Monroe.   
Monroe looks at Charlie for a minute while he thinks before looking again at the map.   
“Well the capital is near Houston, and Houston is about 600 miles away from here. So it’s going to take at least three weeks to get there,” he says, still looking at the map.   
“Well while we’re headed there,” Charlie says, moving to stand next to Monroe to look at the map. “We could check out some of these reeducation camps on the way,” she finishes, pointing to the ones she’s referring to.   
Monroe frowns. “Well what do you think we could do at these camps Charlie? Because even if we kill all the sergeants and generals training these cadets, they’re still brainwashed,” he says, “We’ll probably have to kill them too.”  
Charlie bites her lip while she thinks. “Maybe not,” she says slowly, quietly. Monroe arches an eyebrow at her. Charlie is now chewing on her lip when she finally looks up at Monroe.   
“Jason was able to break the number once.”  
Monroe’s brows furrow.   
“What?” he says, his voice low. “When?” He didn’t like that Charlie didn’t tell him about this.   
“It was just a few days after he came back,” Charlie says, before continuing to knaw on her lip.  
Monroe’s eyes widen and his jaw drops a little at that.  
“What!?” he says. “What the hell Charlie? A few days after he came back? We just learned about the number then. We were trying to talk you into sending him packing and you-”  
Charlie interrupts him. “You weren’t even around. You had gone into town to get drunk or get laid or whatever it is you did. Miles and Mom were arguing about Jason and you so me and Jason snuck off to have some fun.”  
Monroe’s jaw hangs completely open now as he stares past Charlie, thinking. After a minute he remembers that Charlie was right. He had went into town one night and he did get drunk and get laid, he thinks feeling a little guilty. But he remembers how angry he was when Jason showed up. He was angry because he knew how dangerous that number was in his eye and he was a threat to the whole group. But that wasn’t why he left that night. He was jealous, jealous that Charlie immediately accepted Jason back and wouldn’t listen to anyone about how dangerous he was and how he couldn’t be trusted. He remembers the morning before he left he had gone to get some water by the nearby creek when he saw Jason and Charlie lying seemingly naked under some blankets. It was obvious that they had just had sex. He remembers that it was in that moment, seeing Charlie and Jason wrapped around each other when he felt more jealous and frustrated than he ever remembered feeling before in his life, that he knew he was in love with Charlie.   
Monroe lets out a breath, rubbing hard at his beard. “Okay we got the when down. Where did ya’ll go, what happened?”  
Charlie sighs, “Jason said that some of his friends from camp were throwing a party just a few miles down the road next to this lake.”  
“His friends from camp?!” Monroe nearly yells, “Are you fucking insane?”  
Charlie winces. “They weren’t in the camp anymore!” Charlie says exasperated, “Jason said that a few of them escaped with him and that the rest had escaped from other camps. None of them read Jason’s number,” Charlie scoffs.  
“Well who did?”  
“I’m getting to that,” Charlie says, shooting Monroe a glare. “So we all drank and smoked some pot and swam in the lake. And one guy had a guitar-”  
“Sounds like fun,” Connor says, grinning. Monroe sends Connor a look before looking back at Charlie.  
“Yeah a party, get on with it Charlie,” he growls.  
“Well it was just about when everyone was getting ready to leave that these patriots, about ten of them, came barreling in on horseback. A couple of them were riding in a wagon. And so everyone started running when one of the Patriots grabbed Jason’s friend. So Jason told me to go back to camp but of course I wasn’t going to leave him there-”  
“Of course not,” Monroe grumbles, getting angrier by the second.  
Charlie ignores him, “So I went back to help and we managed to get the Patriot off of him. But he was hurt and so I was helping him get out of there and Jason was right behind me- but when I got into the woods, Jason wasn’t there anymore. So I left the guy in the woods and went back to get Jason. But Jason was only a little ways behind us. I didn’t notice anything off then but when I took him back to his friend he took one look at his ankle and broke his neck. Well then of course I knew something was wrong especially when he started back to the lake. I tried to stop him and we fought some but I managed to snap him out of it.”  
“You managed to snap him out of it,” Monroe says lowly. He then shakes his head, his voice rising “How in the hell did you do that?”   
Charlie swallows and starts to blush.   
Connor catches on before Monroe does, who’s looking at Charlie’s lips as she knaws on them.  
“Oh,” Connor says, as he tries to contain his smirk.   
Monroe looks at Connor sharply before finally catching on. His fists clench.  
“So what are you going to do Charlie, fuck some sense into them?”  
Charlie glares at Monroe. “Nooo. But at least we know that the number is breakable. And since the number is breakable then that means that they’ve got to have a way to reverse its effects right? We just have to find the person who knows how.”  
Monroe stares at Charlie for a long moment. “Okay we can check out some other camps on the way to Houston, but you’re gonna have to follow my lead.”  
“Okay,” Charlie says, and Monroe is surprised that she didn’t argue or at least roll her eyes.   
“But first do you know where those Patriots were going?”  
Charlie thinks for a moment. “Um I think they said something about Shamrock.”  
“Shamrock?” Monroe mutters, “That’s about a hundred miles from here. Why would they be taking a map like this to a place like Shamrock?” he says, talking to himself.   
“I don’t know but there’s no telling what they’ll do when they see that their map was stolen. They probably won’t want to go without it, they might be looking for us, for me,” Charlie says.  
Monroe looks up at her quickly. “I thought you said that no one saw you?”  
“I didn’t say that, I just said that I knocked the guy with the map out before I stole it.”  
“Did he see you?”  
Charlie bites her lip and Monroe groans.  
“What?! That’s a good thing. That way we don’t have to follow them down, we just have to wait for them to come to us,” Charlie says.  
“If they’re coming,” Connor pipes in.  
Charlie frowns and looks at Connor. Her lips turn up after a few seconds, “Well if they won’t come to us, we’ll just have to go to them,” she says, her eyes sparkling, as she looks back to Monroe.

Charlie crouches down as she hears the patriot men arguing. “How was I supposed to see which way she went? She knocked me out!” the guy whom she hit over the head with the butt of her crossbow says. He now sported a pink square shape on his forehead, it looked like a birth mark.   
“Well we have to get that map back, Sean. I’m not going to Shamrock without it,” another guy says. He didn’t look but eighteen years old. Charlie furrows her brows and looks over at Monroe who’s moved to crouch closer to the men. Monroe looks at her, an eyebrow cocked. Why would anybody send a map with this lot? It didn’t make any sense.   
“Well Captain Viktor will be here soon, let’s just wait for him,” another guy says. Captain Viktor? He didn’t sound like a guy Charlie wanted to wait on. ‘Captain Viktor’ Connor mouths who’s flanking her right side parallel to Monroe. Charlie shrugs and smirks as Connor fake shudders from the name.  
“Wait on Viktor the beast and his thugs? Without the map?” one guy snorts, “I’d rather not.”  
Okay definitely didn’t want to wait on him then. Charlie looks over at Monroe who nods at her, and Charlie can tell he’s thinking what she’s thinking. Charlie thought that waiting on ‘Captain Viktor’ would be best as a last resort, if these guys didn’t know anything. Charlie sighs quietly, it didn’t look like these buffoons would know anything. But still, a plan was a plan. Charlie shuffles closer to the men.   
“Well what did this chick look like? We’ve gotta find her.”  
“She looked like an angel who’d look divine riding my dick, blond hair, blue eyes, tight body, mmm,” the guy who’s name is apparently Sean moans like he tasted something good.   
Some of the guys laugh. Charlie notices Monroe’s hands clench tight around his gun as Connor smirks. She rolls her eyes before pulling out the map and stepping out from the bushes she was hiding behind.   
“Hmm. Something like me?” she says holding the map and her hands up by her head.   
Every head turns to her and Charlie’s eyes roam over everybody, noticing with satisfaction that the idiots didn’t even raise their guns at her.   
She lowers her hands to open the map, keeping her eyes on the guys with the guns. It looked like half of them had guns.  
“Is this what you’re looking for?” she asks, since they all were too busy checking her out to say anything. She turns the map to show it to them, and the guy closest to her steps towards her, hand outstretched. He didn’t have a gun but Charlie steps back anyway.   
“Nah ah ah, what you think I’d wait til he pulled his ugly dick out to steal it just to hand it back?” she asks, motioning briefly to Sean. Someone snorts and Sean frowns.   
“Well seeing how there’s six of us and one of you, you don’t have much of an option,” Sean says pointing his gun at her. The other two follow suit.  
“So here’s your options. You can either strip, come over here ride my ugly dick and I might let you live, after you give us the map of course. Or you can give us the map and well,” he cocks his gun, “We’ll see if you’re really an angel or not.”   
The bang of a shot rang out and Charlie watches Sean sink to the ground like a sack of potatoes from the bullet in his head. She meets Monroe’s intense gaze for a split second before throwing her knife, hitting a guy in the chest who was raising his gun towards Monroe. Monroe shoots her a look before yelling, “Duck!” Charlie dives to the ground, narrowly missing a bullet. Monroe shoots the guy who shot at her and Charlie rises. She knocks a knife out of a guy’s hand who’s about to stab Connor in the back before stabbing him in the side of his neck with her own. Connor takes out the guy he’s fighting and Monroe slices the last guy with his sword.   
Charlie stares at all of the bodies before cocking an eyebrow at Monroe. “You were supposed to leave Sean alive so we could question him,” she says.  
Monroe stares at her, “I didn’t like the way he was talking to you,” he says and Charlie feels a volt of electricity shoot through her at the way he was looking at her. It was like he was daring her to say something about it. Charlie bites her tongue noting the dangerous glint in his eye, if she was an angel than Monroe was definitely a fallen one. Monroe drops his gaze after a long moment to look at Sean’s body. He pushes his boot against his face, turning it away from him and into the ground.  
“Well it’s too late now,” Connor says.   
Monroe spits at the ground, before saying “Looks like we’re waiting for Captain Viktor.”  
“Great,” Connor says sarcastically.  
“Well at least I won’t have to worry about not being able to sleep tonight,” Charlie says, ignoring the frown Monroe shoots her. They don’t bother doing anything with the bodies since they’re a guarantee that Captain Viktor will stop when he sees them.  
So they cooked and ate the rabbits Charlie shot and waited. And waited. They waited well past midnight before Monroe finally told Connor and Charlie to get some sleep while he kept watch. Connor went into the woods and slept underneath some bushes so he was mostly camouflaged. Charlie however did not go sleep but sat next to Monroe against a tree trunk. The tree wasn’t very wide and they’re shoulders brushed together. Charlie leans her head back, her arm resting on her raised knee. Monroe looks over at her.  
“You should get some sleep,” he says.  
“I’m not tired,” she says back, even as her eyes drift closed.  
“Really? You’re half asleep already Charlie just go lay down.”  
Charlie opens her eyes and looks at Monroe. “I don’t want to lay down, I don’t want to dream,” she says.  
Monroe frowns, noticing the way Charlie’s eyes deaden.   
“You still dream about Jason?” he asks.  
“Almost every night,” she says, not turning her head.  
“About killing him?” Monroe asks.   
Charlie blinks, “Yeah but not always. Half the time it’s memories of him, of us. And other times its things that never happened, that never will happen. In some ways those are worse.”  
Monroe furrows his brows, remembering what it was like when he used to dream of his sisters. And Shelley.  
Charlie turns her head, but sees past him as she says, “When I dream of him dying, I know that it’s not real, that it’s just a dream because it already happened. And although it still scares me and still hurts, it’s getting a little bit easier every time. When its memories, I know that’s it’s just a dream too because they already happened... I used to live for those dreams but now they’re just making it harder to move on. But when they’re something else, when I dream about him and me doing something together that we never got to do, like make love in a bed, or just wake up with him in a bed, or just have a normal day without fighting or trying to survive,” Charlie sighs, shaking her head, “Those are the worst. They just feel so real and when I wake up I remember that he’s dead, that I killed him all over again.”  
Monroe’s chest constricts for her. “You really loved him didn’t you?”  
Charlie finally looks at him, really looks at him. “Yeah I really did. He was the only person I’ve ever been in love with.”  
Monroe’s gut tightens, yeah a little out of jealousy, but mostly just out of hurt for her. He pats her leg, “The first one always cuts deep,” he says, “But you will love again Charlie, I promise.”  
Charlie shakes her head, “I don’t know if I want to,” she says quietly.  
Monroe aches from her words. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. He buries his nose in her hair, breathing in her scent as he holds her. “I know it feels like that now,” he whispers against her, “But you won’t always feel that way.”  
Charlie nods against him, and clenches her fingers around his shirt. After a while her fingers loosen and her eyes drift close, no longer being able to fight sleep. Monroe doesn’t let her go, hoping that maybe he can keep her demons at bay, or at least take them from her, if only for a few hours.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is a lot shorter and doesn't really have a conclusion to it, but it's all I got right now for it and I'm really busy right now with school so I don't know how long it'll be before I can continue it. Sorry. But comments will definitely help!

The next morning Monroe is shaken awake by Charlie. “Monroe wake up,” she hisses. Monroe frowns, squinting up at her, noticing that the sun wasn’t even up yet. He must’ve only slept for a few hours at most. “Captain Viktor is coming,” she says and Monroe snaps awake as if she had thrown cold water on him. He stands quickly, pulling out his gun.  
“Connor?”  
“He’s keeping an eye on them from the woods a mile up the road. They’ll be here soon. What’s the plan?”  
“How many are there?” he asks.  
“Connor said about ten,” she answers and Monroe frowns.   
“If this Viktor is a Captain rank he’s not going to be as easy to kill,” he says, looking around at the bodies still littering the ground as he thinks.   
“Well we don’t have to kill him, just his men, we should interrogate Viktor,” she says and Monroe nods.  
His body tenses, “That means we have to kill nine men quickly. Nine men who probably are well armed and well trained… Grab the guns off the idiots last night,” he says.  
Charlie rushes to comply, picking up two revolvers and one rifle.   
Monroe takes the rifle from her, “Keep a revolver and give the other one to Connor,” he says, looking over her shoulder as Connor comes jogging up to them. Charlie snaps the revolver’s holster around her belt and holsters it.  
She hands over the other gun to Connor as he says, “They’ll be here any minute, and they don’t look at all friendly.”  
Monroe shakes his head, “Especially not when they see all this,” he says, motioning to the bodies.   
“What do you want to do?” Charlie says.   
Monroe looks at Charlie and then around at the trees. “I want you to start climbing,” he says, “you too Connor. I’ll be the distraction this time.”  
Charlie furrows her brow, “You sure that’s a good idea? They’ll recognize you, they might shoot you on the spot.”  
“That’s why I’m not going to wait to have a chat with them. I’m going to lead as many of them as I can away so you two can trap Viktor.”  
Charlie frowns. “That’s not a good idea Monroe, there’s too many of them for you to take on by yourself. They all have guns. They might just shoot you in the back.”  
Monroe grins cockily, “What’s wrong Charlotte, you worried about me?”  
Charlie rolls her eyes, ignoring his question before saying, “I think it would be better if Connor and I led them away and you get Viktor.”  
Monroe shakes his head, “No way, it’s too dangerous for you two. Ya’ll can’t take out nine men by yourselves.”  
Charlie cocks an eyebrow and looks at him challengingly.   
Monroe can’t help but smile slowly at her.  
“They’re going to be here any second,” Connor says impatiently, “And I’m with my Dad on this one Charlie, I don’t want to get shot in the back.”  
Charlie sighs, “Fine then I’ll go with Bass and you stay here, climb a tree and wait til we get back. Keep an eye on Viktor.”  
Monroe’s adrenaline spikes at hearing Charlie say his name and the way Connor immediately starts climbing, following her commands. She would’ve made a hell of a lieutenant.   
They hear the pounding of hooves as they get closer and Charlie and Monroe slink behind a couple of trees, Monroe looking up to make sure that Connor was in a good position. When he’s satisfied that his son can’t be seen he focuses on the road, waiting. They all come in at a canter, the man who he assumes is Captain Viktor up in front. By looking at his body it’s hard to understand why the guys were so afraid of him. He’s not a big man, not much taller than Bass but smaller than him. He was all lanky muscle but you couldn’t accuse the man of being ungraceful. Viktor sees the bodies but doesn’t stop until he’s right before them. He scans the trees and Charlie slinks further behind her tree as he looks her way. She shivers as he seems to look straight through the tree and into her. His eyes so dark they looked black, she got the feeling that if she looked too long in them she would get sucked into them like a black hole.   
But he doesn’t see her or Monroe and finishes scanning the trees, missing Connor too before in one fluid motion pulls his right foot over the saddle and slides off his horse like it’s a slide. He leans down checking the bodies, feeling the pulse of Sean. Without looking up he motions with his hands and every single man dismounts their horse circling around him. It gave Charlie the creeps at how in synch they moved, like parts in a machine. Viktor pats down Sean, checking his pockets.   
“Look for the map,” he says. Charlie is surprised at the sound of his voice. From the way he handled himself and the look in his eyes, even if his body wasn’t really impressive Charlie had assumed he would have a deep voice. But his voice was not deep, was actually kind of musical in a way and his smooth tone reminded her of Monroe’s voice. Charlie glances at Monroe at this thought before watching as the men check the pockets of the dead guys. Viktor looks up as they all shake their heads before standing, his jaw tightening as he again scans the forest.   
Charlie tenses, her heart rate accelerating, her fingers twitching around her crossbow as her body prepares for flight.   
“Spread out, split up, find the people who did this and bring them to me,” Viktor says quietly but firmly.   
Monroe locks eyes with Charlie a gleam in his eye. And with one look, one cocked eyebrow from Charlie, a twitch in Monroe’s lips and a miniscule barely perceptible tilt of his head they take off, not bothering trying to be quiet about it. Monroe is faster than Charlie but stays right behind her, shielding her as he hears the men start to chase after them. He looks back and counts seven men behind them, leaving Viktor and two others with Connor. He scans the upcoming woods ahead of them, looking for a spot for them to duck behind so they can take out some of these guys.   
After a few more minutes of running he sees it, a big fallen tree in a small ditch at two o clock. He pats Charlie on the shoulder and points to it and Charlie nods. They jump into the ditch behind the tree and turn around, Monroe aiming the rifle, Charlie loading her crossbow.   
Monroe scans the men approaching and notices with a twinge of trepidation that two are missing. He scans around them for the two as he waits for the five to get closer. He sees something out of the corner of his good eye and without checking to see who it is shoots. A man goes down, leaving only one unaccounted for. Charlie starts shooting arrows at the five barreling towards them with her crossbow. They duck as they return fire, but after a few rounds of back and forth they manage to incapacitate the five men.   
Monroe is walking around the bodies, finishing off the survivors when he hears Charlie yell. He swings around raising his gun, his pulse in his ears and his heart in his throat as he sees Charlie in the clutches of the last man that he had missed, a knife to her throat. Charlie stills, her eyes locking with Monroe’s. His eyes are wide, his upper lip curled, making him look crazed. She takes in a breath slowly trying to ignore the blade pressing into her jugular as she tries to remain calm. She inwardly berates herself for allowing the man to sneak up on her. Her fingers curl into fists as her features curl into Matheson disdain, hoping that Monroe won’t do anything stupid like allow for both of them to get captured. She holds her breath as he cocks his gun, aiming at the man pressed up pinching tight against her back. She feels the man’s breath in her ear as he moves his head close to hers, slightly behind it.   
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, wouldn’t want to chance hitting her pretty face,” the man says.   
“Do it Monroe,” she commands, her eyes flashing and his face twitches, his finger tightening on the trigger, his teeth grinding.  
“Shoot him Bass. I trust you, you won’t hit me,” she says and the man yanks her head back by her hair and digs the knife into her throat, cutting her shallowly. Monroe growls and lowers his gun.   
The man laughs and Charlie’s face drops with disappointment. Monroe locks eyes with her, apologizing with his eyes before he glares at the man.   
“Toss the gun to your right,” he says and Monroe only hesitates for a second before doing as instructed, his eyes on the knife at Charlie’s throat.   
“Turn around,” the guy says and Monroe frowns. Charlie gasps a little as the knife cuts into her throat when he doesn’t comply.  
Monroe raises his hands, “Take it easy,” he says, tension in his voice, before he turns around.   
“Move,” the guy says and Monroe turns his head to look back.  
“Are you deaf?” the guy says, “Move or I’m going to slit your girlfriend’s throat.”  
Charlie can’t help but roll her eyes and Monroe catches it, his lips twitching before he faces forward and starts to walk. Why did everyone think they were together? She thinks.   
The guy pushes her and she follows Monroe, feeling like a toddler by the way he stayed right up against her, his legs moving hers as he walked behind her.   
“I can walk without your help,” she growls and tries to move out of his grasp just a little to give her some space. Monroe looks back at them his lips pursed as he watches Charlie grimace as the guy chuckles pulling her against him again. “But then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy your ass grinding against my cock now would I?” he whispers in her ear. Monroe sees red as he watches Charlie’s hips jut out from the guy thrusting his pelvis into her.   
She hisses and stomps on his foot and throws her head back against his nose, not caring that the movement cost her another cut along her jaw, this one deep enough to need stitches. She moves to turn around but the guy regroups too fast. He yanks her by her hair and her face flinches in pain before he shoves her forward. “Fucking bitch,” he spits but she can’t help but smirk as this earned her a sliver of personal space.   
For the rest of the way she stares at Monroe’s back, noting the tension in his shoulders and his clenched fists. Right before they get into the clearing the guy says lowly, “I can’t wait to hear you beg for mercy when Viktor finds out you killed his men.”  
It was meant for her but Monroe hears it too and his eyes scan the trees. He notices Connor right above Viktor and he bites back a smile.   
The guy shoves Charlie forward as the two men with Viktor cock their guns at Charlie and Monroe. Viktor’s eyes scan the woods behind them before settling on the last soldier. “What happened?”  
The guy motions to Monroe and Charlie, “They killed them.”  
Viktor freezes staring at the soldier before his eyes meet Charlie’s before settling on Monroe. Monroe sees a flicker of recognition in his eyes as he says, “Sebastian Monroe, aw now it’s starting to make sense.”  
His eyes flick back to Charlie and Charlie forces her eyes to meet his black ones. He squints his eyes slightly before the side of his mouth twitches up, “And Charlotte Matheson, yes things are definitely coming together now.”  
Monroe’s head swivels to Charlie and then back to Viktor, dread filling his stomach that he recognized her. “How do you know my name?” Charlie asks.


End file.
